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Lucas (mentioned as "the protagonist of MOTHER 3") was originally meant to replace Ness, but as MOTHER 3 was facing development difficulties at the time, Ness was used instead[1].

According to Sonic the Hedgehog series producer Yuji Naka, Sonic was requested to be in the game, but the idea fell through due to time constraints.[2] Nonetheless, EGM, as part of their April Fools' Day issue, had claimed that Sonic, alongside Miles "Tails" Prower, were unlockable in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Sonic was later included as a playable character in the series starting with Super Smash Bros. Brawl, while Tails would appear as a background character on the Green Hill Zone stage and as a Mii costume. Similarly, Solid Snake was requested by Metal Gear Solid series creator Hideo Kojima, but was rejected as development was too far in.[3] Like Sonic, Snake would also be made a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

When choosing a "retro" character from the NES/Famicom era to add, Sakurai mentioned on the Japanese Super Smash Bros. Melee website that he also considered Bubbles from Clu Clu Land, the Balloon Fighter from Balloon Fight, "Urban Champion", and "Excitebike" in addition to the Ice Climbers.[1] Ayumi Tachibana from the Famicom Detective Club series was also considered, but rejected as she lacked familiarity outside Japan.[1]

In a meeting between Sakurai and Nintendo of America, it was suggested that Marth and Roy would be removed from the international version, meaning both characters would be only playable in the Japanese version, though Nintendo of America decided to keep them in the game.[4] Because of this, they do not speak in English; they speak in Japanese instead.

Wario was another character considered to appear as a playable character, but ultimately was not added, in part due to time constraints and because Sakurai felt the game would have had too many Mario characters.[5]

A stage based on Akenia from the early Fire Emblem games was planned. According to Masahiro Sakurai, the stage would have featured a castle being attacked by catapults, and dragons and wizards would have appeared.[5]

Masahiro Sakurai has stated that, when thinking about ideas for a Super Smash Bros. follow-up, 8-player simultaneous multiplayer was considered and was listed on a project planning document, but due to technical limitations it was "beyond impossible". The idea would later be implemented into Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, though "just barely".[6]

"Assist Capsules" were planned as an item, but were scrapped.[1] Another planned feature was Sukapon from Joy Mech Fight, which characters would have been able to ride on and attack with, but due to legal issues, this could not be implemented.[5]

According to Rare Scribes, trophies of characters from Rare games were planned, but were scrapped.[1]Fire Emblem trophies were also planned, but as they would have taken too much time to create, they were not made a high priority and in the end scrapped entirely.[5]

The Pokémon Stadium stage was planned to feature several Pokémon, including Venusaur. This feature had to be scrapped due to technical issues, and the Pokémon were instead made Poké Ball Pokémon.[5]

The "Temple" stage originally had an elevator that led to the bottom of the stage, a feature based on the temples seen in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and had a fixed appearance. Hyrule Temple also had two mysterious platforms in the center of the stage. These platforms can also be seen in the game's Special Movie. Players could also walk through the laboratory in Great Bay. The stages Yoshi's Story and Mushroom Kingdom I had different designs altogether. Onett's music also sounded different[citation needed].

Another graphic change was the Topi enemies in the Ice Climber stage - in the Japanese version, they were seals, but this changed to yeti creatures in the international versions.

On the back of Captain Falcon's red color change, the outfit was originally going to say "Hell Hawk", the Japanese name of Blood Falcon's F-Zero machine.

A early version of the character select screen features a question mark space where Zelda's spot appears on the final screen.

Link in the test level

Early Mushroom Kingdom

Early Yoshi's Story

The old character-selection screen before the final version of the game. Note that Kirby, Peach, Zelda, and the Ice Climbers are missing.

Through the use of an Action Replay, many unused/unfinished stages can be found. The first is a large, gray stage with the background appearing to be some kind of pub. The music is the same as used on Corneria. This is assumed to be a test stage because of its name, which on the debug menu is TEST. There are three other stages, "AKANEIA" (left over from the Fire Emblem stage that was in development) "10-2", and "Dummy", which will crash the game when loading, but hacking into it shows it is just an empty stage with an invisible platform. The last stage, named IceTop (a possible precursor to the Summit stage from the sequel, which belongs to the Ice Climbers), simply loads Icicle Mountain except without music. In addition to these stages, the entire Debug Menu, which was used in pre-release testing, can be used, allowing for complete editing of anything in the game. Giga Bowser, both male and female Fighting Wire Frames, Master Hand, Crazy Hand, and even Sandbag are all playable (to a limited extent) via the Debug Menu.

Through the Debug menu players can also access Ditto as a Poké Ball Pokémon, though it is incomplete, as it only shouts part of its Japanese name before disappearing. According to the Nintendo Power guide, which includes Ditto in its listing of Poké Ball Pokémon, Ditto would have transformed into the player that threw the Poké Ball and fought as their ally.[1][8] Ditto would later become a Poké Ball Pokémon in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, acting as Nintendo Power described.

All-Star mode would have featured loading screens featuring each of the characters, similar to the loading screens used in Classic. These can be accessed from the debug menu.[9]

In addition to existing bonuses, there are seven hidden ones that are accessed only by the cheating device.

The Japanese version actually had a different Motion-Sensor Bomb; it is actually a Proximity Mine from Perfect Dark rather than the Motion-Sensor Bomb from GoldenEye 007 (listed as "TOP SECRET" in-game) that appeared in the international version. The Proximity Mine's trophy can be viewed in English due to the language option, and this screenshot shows the text in the Proximity Mine trophy was tampered with only a minor amount (with only a few removals of references to Perfect Dark) for the final Motion-Sensor Bomb trophy.

The early box art for the game featured Mario getting hurt by Bowser's Fire Breath, on the Temple stage, without any of the other characters and using a different camera angle.